My home was built somewhere around 1905-1915. It's been kept in decent shape, but it's an old home. There were some cosmetic problems, especially the 50's decorating. We did not have a large budget to help bring the house to current times nor did my husband and I have much experience with home decorating. But - just a few things we did made a HUGE difference.
1.) Caulk around the trim in rooms. Even if there is just a little gap between the wall and the trim - it doesn't look very good especially on lighter-colored walls. Eyes are drawn to the dark areas that the gaps create. Just get some indoor caulk and run it along the trim. The gap disappears and what you have is an instant "fix" to a common problem in older homes.
2.) Paint over wallpaper. The bedrooms upstairs had the worst colored wallpaper. One of the rooms had the brightest and biggest pink flowers you have ever seen. We did try to remove the wallpaper in certain spots - but that was a chore and it wasn't going to work without breaking into the plaster behind it. So we went and bought some paint and painted over the wallpaper. It may not look the best and the walls do show seams from the wallpaper, but it looks a lot better than it did.
3.) Use floor linoleum tiles on the walls. You can get tiles fairly cheap at department stores in many different designs. We ended up using tiles to cover some very ugly plastic tile under our top kitchen cupboards and it looks great.
The main points - be creative and be resourceful. Fairly inexpensive changes can make a huge difference with your home.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Resources for Prosper Borrowers
Here are some sites that I found helpful as a Borrower at Prosper:
1.) Prosper Discussion Boards (found on the Prosper.com site as a sub-heading under "Help"). Even though there are separate forums for Borrowers and Lenders, make sure you look through both. Not only will you find great tips on how to do your listing, you will learn the general feeling of those lending at Prosper.
2.) Prosperl.icio.us. This is a blog written by a Prosper Lender mostly about lending, but he gives some great information for Borrowers (found by scrolling down on the right sidebar). It also doesn't hurt to read some of the other posts as well even though they are geared towards Lenders.
3.) Eric's Credit Community list of delinquent loans. Why look at that? While most delinquent loans are from High Risk Borrowers, there are still some late payments made from those with good credit. It just shows that anyone can be delinquent and you need to present your case to show you can and will repay the loan.
Even though my listing is already up, I'm still learning more and more. If my loan doesn't happen to fund, I've learned things from these sites that I can do better in regards to my listing if I choose to try it again.
Index of My Borrowing Experience with Prosper
1.) Prosper Discussion Boards (found on the Prosper.com site as a sub-heading under "Help"). Even though there are separate forums for Borrowers and Lenders, make sure you look through both. Not only will you find great tips on how to do your listing, you will learn the general feeling of those lending at Prosper.
2.) Prosperl.icio.us. This is a blog written by a Prosper Lender mostly about lending, but he gives some great information for Borrowers (found by scrolling down on the right sidebar). It also doesn't hurt to read some of the other posts as well even though they are geared towards Lenders.
3.) Eric's Credit Community list of delinquent loans. Why look at that? While most delinquent loans are from High Risk Borrowers, there are still some late payments made from those with good credit. It just shows that anyone can be delinquent and you need to present your case to show you can and will repay the loan.
Even though my listing is already up, I'm still learning more and more. If my loan doesn't happen to fund, I've learned things from these sites that I can do better in regards to my listing if I choose to try it again.
Index of My Borrowing Experience with Prosper
Sunday, June 11, 2006
January thru May Expenses
Last time, I posted January thru April, and I kept in finance charges and interest expense. While they are true expenses, including them can be misleading if one just looks at my total expenses, total debt and income. It does appear that there is no way that everything could be paid without going more into debt. When in fact, the finance charge and interest expense is included with my monthly debt payments.
If anyone has any suggestions on what they would like to see, please let me know and I will see what I can do.
The biggest expenses that I would like to see dwindle down are for groceries and dining. With my husband switching shifts, we ended up dining more than we should have adjusting to the change.
A huge problem with groceries are the little visits to the store. We had two major shopping trips at Walmart and then about 10 visits to the local grocery store. It is amazing how those little visits added up to $200 in no time. It's hard, but I believe that trying to limit shopping trips to once a week will work wonders with our grocery expense. That means creating some lists and sticking to them.
Right now, on a yearly basis our expenses are running $17,800/year. For an income of $40,000/year that leaves over $22,000/year for other things. Just imagine if that money could be put in savings instead of going towards debt. Wow.
If anyone has any suggestions on what they would like to see, please let me know and I will see what I can do.
The biggest expenses that I would like to see dwindle down are for groceries and dining. With my husband switching shifts, we ended up dining more than we should have adjusting to the change.
A huge problem with groceries are the little visits to the store. We had two major shopping trips at Walmart and then about 10 visits to the local grocery store. It is amazing how those little visits added up to $200 in no time. It's hard, but I believe that trying to limit shopping trips to once a week will work wonders with our grocery expense. That means creating some lists and sticking to them.
Right now, on a yearly basis our expenses are running $17,800/year. For an income of $40,000/year that leaves over $22,000/year for other things. Just imagine if that money could be put in savings instead of going towards debt. Wow.
A Few Important Notes About the Debt to Income Ratio at Prosper
I've been reading how some people think that the debt-to-income ratio isn't that helpful at Prosper. When I listed my loan, I just plugged in my income and that was it. I didn't have to verify my income as I believe Tim at My Money Forest had to do when he signed up for Prosper.
Not verifying the income could be one way that the debt-to-income ratio is off if a borrower chooses to exaggerate their income (which, by the way, if discovered will terminate your membership at Prosper and will not be tolerated). Prosper can at any time before your loan is funded request more information about you and it appears that they are doing that to select funded loans.
There's another way it could be off and I'm proof....it doesn't take into consideration total household debt!!
My jaw about hit the floor when I saw that Prosper gave me a 24% debt-to-income ratio. I've made it public on my blog that it is more around 50% (includes total household income and household debt). That's about twice the ratio that Prosper gave me.
One difference is that Prosper does not include mortgage payments. That lowers my monthly debt by approximately $340 so that helps to lower my ratio.
The biggest factor is that my husband's debt is not included. The credit report pulled on borrowers only gives the borrower's debt. While it is true that my husband's debt is his and mine is mine (technically), I consider all of it our debt and include it in my ratio.
While I like the 24% ratio that Prosper gave me, it doesn't give a good representation of our debt load. This may be something for Lenders to keep in mind when they see an attractive debt-to-income ratio. If I wasn't blogging about my finances, you wouldn't have any idea that our debt load is that high.
Index of My Borrowing Experience with Prosper
Not verifying the income could be one way that the debt-to-income ratio is off if a borrower chooses to exaggerate their income (which, by the way, if discovered will terminate your membership at Prosper and will not be tolerated). Prosper can at any time before your loan is funded request more information about you and it appears that they are doing that to select funded loans.
There's another way it could be off and I'm proof....it doesn't take into consideration total household debt!!
My jaw about hit the floor when I saw that Prosper gave me a 24% debt-to-income ratio. I've made it public on my blog that it is more around 50% (includes total household income and household debt). That's about twice the ratio that Prosper gave me.
One difference is that Prosper does not include mortgage payments. That lowers my monthly debt by approximately $340 so that helps to lower my ratio.
The biggest factor is that my husband's debt is not included. The credit report pulled on borrowers only gives the borrower's debt. While it is true that my husband's debt is his and mine is mine (technically), I consider all of it our debt and include it in my ratio.
While I like the 24% ratio that Prosper gave me, it doesn't give a good representation of our debt load. This may be something for Lenders to keep in mind when they see an attractive debt-to-income ratio. If I wasn't blogging about my finances, you wouldn't have any idea that our debt load is that high.
Index of My Borrowing Experience with Prosper
Thanks for the Link Love!
I just have to publicly thank a few fellow personal bloggers lending support and sharing some link love about my Prosper borrowing experience:
It's Your Money: Money Musings
My Personal Finance Blog
Thank you...thank you...thank you! :)
Index of My Borrowing Experience with Prosper
It's Your Money: Money Musings
My Personal Finance Blog
Thank you...thank you...thank you! :)
Index of My Borrowing Experience with Prosper
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Index of My Borrowing Experience with Prosper
I am officially settled into my new home and you can all about my Prosper experience here:
http://www.bloggingawaydebt.com/category/prosper-borrowing/
Come on over and check out the new site. It may look almost the same, but there's some new things to check out and and I am busy finding great new resources to add to my site.
Hope to see you there!
- Tricia
Where My Debt Came From
I haven't really discussed where our debt came from. Mostly, it's due to it being a long story and a hard one to explain. It would be easy to say we just blew money like there was no tomorrow, but that's not necessarily the case.
The easiest to explain is debt to the tune of 10 grand from financing my husband's business. It's high tech, so it comes with a high price. We didn't have the money, so on the credit card it went.
The remaining 27 grand built up through the years. We've been accused of being dreamers by my in-laws because we decided against living in the city since that is where the money is. Instead, we chose an area that is so beautiful and relaxing that it is almost like you are on a vacation every day. You rarely hear sirens and you can feel safe walking down the street at night. It's a wonderful place to raise a family and I love the slower pace of life.
Such a beautiful place comes with a price. There are many lower-paying jobs (meaning under $7.00/hr) and very few higher-paying jobs. My husband and I actually both have college degrees, but there are no available jobs in the area for us. We'd have to move elsewhere to work in the fields we were trained in and we feel that the money isn't worth leaving the area that we love so we've made do with what we had.
As a result, we've lived with working near minimum wage - alternating shifts so we could avoid daycare for our son and earn two incomes. While we were happy, we didn't always have money for certain things. I managed to pay the regular bills, but sometimes we have had to put groceries on the credit cards. Not to mention some costs such as car repairs (we had a lemon of a vehicle for a while).
In general, we did live very frugally. But, there were purchases now and then that were made that we really didn't need to make. Like a second vehicle that we thought we needed (purchased with a credit card cash advance check) which is now broken-down and sitting in the garage. Then there have been multiple other high-tech things purchased since we are a high-tech computer loving family. I also have a weak spot near the holidays and I tend to spoil my husband and son as well as my parents. I love giving gifts and I have gone overboard in the past.
There have also been a few times where either my husband and I were not working during transition phases in our lives. Last year, I quit my job making a decent income for the area (over $10/hr) to find a work-at-home job. Crazy, yes...but I wanted to be able to see my son when he came home from school and I wanted to just see him more. I like being able to ask him how his day went. My job search didn't go well and I was out of work for about 4 months. So, we just lived on my husband's income of $6/hr and I made around $300/month working a couple odd jobs (online tutoring & writing). Needless to say, the credit cards came out and were almost maxed out and I was about ready to get a job outside of the home to keep things going. Then it happened...I landed a very good job that pays alot better than what I was making before and I get to work at home! I just love my job and I am so thankful for it.
It's funny, because although we have had a rocky past and have accumulated a lot of debt, things have been working out for us slowly but surely. If you have watched the "A-Team" you will appreciate it when I say, "I love it when a plan comes together." That's how I sort of feel our journey has been - a plan. And finally things are starting to come together. I really believe that starting this blog has been the best thing I could have done for our finances and if we didn't have debt - I wouldn't have started a blog. I'm am enjoying this experience and my only desire would be to have more time to write more.
I will never say that I am happy that we are in debt, but in a way I am thankful for it. It did help us make it through rough times and make it where we are today. I don't know what we would have done without our credit cards. But let it be known that even though I am thankful for them - that doesn't mean I lack the desire to pay them all off :)
So, there's where my debt came from - in a very brief nutshell.
The easiest to explain is debt to the tune of 10 grand from financing my husband's business. It's high tech, so it comes with a high price. We didn't have the money, so on the credit card it went.
The remaining 27 grand built up through the years. We've been accused of being dreamers by my in-laws because we decided against living in the city since that is where the money is. Instead, we chose an area that is so beautiful and relaxing that it is almost like you are on a vacation every day. You rarely hear sirens and you can feel safe walking down the street at night. It's a wonderful place to raise a family and I love the slower pace of life.
Such a beautiful place comes with a price. There are many lower-paying jobs (meaning under $7.00/hr) and very few higher-paying jobs. My husband and I actually both have college degrees, but there are no available jobs in the area for us. We'd have to move elsewhere to work in the fields we were trained in and we feel that the money isn't worth leaving the area that we love so we've made do with what we had.
As a result, we've lived with working near minimum wage - alternating shifts so we could avoid daycare for our son and earn two incomes. While we were happy, we didn't always have money for certain things. I managed to pay the regular bills, but sometimes we have had to put groceries on the credit cards. Not to mention some costs such as car repairs (we had a lemon of a vehicle for a while).
In general, we did live very frugally. But, there were purchases now and then that were made that we really didn't need to make. Like a second vehicle that we thought we needed (purchased with a credit card cash advance check) which is now broken-down and sitting in the garage. Then there have been multiple other high-tech things purchased since we are a high-tech computer loving family. I also have a weak spot near the holidays and I tend to spoil my husband and son as well as my parents. I love giving gifts and I have gone overboard in the past.
There have also been a few times where either my husband and I were not working during transition phases in our lives. Last year, I quit my job making a decent income for the area (over $10/hr) to find a work-at-home job. Crazy, yes...but I wanted to be able to see my son when he came home from school and I wanted to just see him more. I like being able to ask him how his day went. My job search didn't go well and I was out of work for about 4 months. So, we just lived on my husband's income of $6/hr and I made around $300/month working a couple odd jobs (online tutoring & writing). Needless to say, the credit cards came out and were almost maxed out and I was about ready to get a job outside of the home to keep things going. Then it happened...I landed a very good job that pays alot better than what I was making before and I get to work at home! I just love my job and I am so thankful for it.
It's funny, because although we have had a rocky past and have accumulated a lot of debt, things have been working out for us slowly but surely. If you have watched the "A-Team" you will appreciate it when I say, "I love it when a plan comes together." That's how I sort of feel our journey has been - a plan. And finally things are starting to come together. I really believe that starting this blog has been the best thing I could have done for our finances and if we didn't have debt - I wouldn't have started a blog. I'm am enjoying this experience and my only desire would be to have more time to write more.
I will never say that I am happy that we are in debt, but in a way I am thankful for it. It did help us make it through rough times and make it where we are today. I don't know what we would have done without our credit cards. But let it be known that even though I am thankful for them - that doesn't mean I lack the desire to pay them all off :)
So, there's where my debt came from - in a very brief nutshell.
Oops!! How Did I Let That Happen?
Thanks to those who have brought it to my attention that my Prosper listing has a little boo-boo in it:
"...I am a woman on a mission. I am dead set against getting rid of my family's credit card debt."
I didn't mean that I am against getting rid of debt, but somehow I worded it that way. I can just shake my head and laugh it off because once your loan is listed at Prosper - you do not have the ability to revise your listing. I can withdraw the loan and fix it, but people have already bid on it and as of right now it is 22% funded. It's doing well, and I think everyone understands what I was trying to say...I hope. Believe me, getting the credit card debt paid off is one of my top priorities.
What does everyone think? Should I withdraw it and relist or just live with the boo-boo?
"...I am a woman on a mission. I am dead set against getting rid of my family's credit card debt."
I didn't mean that I am against getting rid of debt, but somehow I worded it that way. I can just shake my head and laugh it off because once your loan is listed at Prosper - you do not have the ability to revise your listing. I can withdraw the loan and fix it, but people have already bid on it and as of right now it is 22% funded. It's doing well, and I think everyone understands what I was trying to say...I hope. Believe me, getting the credit card debt paid off is one of my top priorities.
What does everyone think? Should I withdraw it and relist or just live with the boo-boo?
Friday, June 09, 2006
My Loan Listing is Up at Prosper!
UPDATE:
My Prosper loan has been funded! $3,500 at 9.9% :) Feel free to click here to see all of my posts about my Prosper experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I still have $3,500 left on Credit Card #2 that I cannot do a balance transfer with. I have been debating trying Prosper for a loan, and I decided to just go for it.
I couldn't justify going through Prosper unless my rate is below my current 13.99% finance charge. So, I started it at 12%. I am hoping that I can still attract Lenders' eyes.
If you'd like to participate, feel free to check out my listing:
And feel free to look around my blog. You see the good and bad, and I hope everyone sees how determined I am to finally pay off all of my family's credit card debt.
My previous posts about Prosper:
A Few Points for Those Thinking of Borrowing With Prosper
Can Prosper Help Someone Like Me
My Prosper loan has been funded! $3,500 at 9.9% :) Feel free to click here to see all of my posts about my Prosper experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I still have $3,500 left on Credit Card #2 that I cannot do a balance transfer with. I have been debating trying Prosper for a loan, and I decided to just go for it.
I couldn't justify going through Prosper unless my rate is below my current 13.99% finance charge. So, I started it at 12%. I am hoping that I can still attract Lenders' eyes.
If you'd like to participate, feel free to check out my listing:
And feel free to look around my blog. You see the good and bad, and I hope everyone sees how determined I am to finally pay off all of my family's credit card debt.
My previous posts about Prosper:
A Few Points for Those Thinking of Borrowing With Prosper
Can Prosper Help Someone Like Me
Darn Garage Sales!!
I love garage sales and I love getting deals. But after starting this blog, and taking inventory of the things I don't need, I realized I have gotten some great deals throughout the years - but most of it is stuff I didn't really need. Things like picture frames, decorations, clothes that I don't wear, etc.
I have been staying away from them this summer and I have conditioned my foot to not hit the brake pedal when I see a fluorescent sign on the side of the road. But while my son and I were out walking to the gas station so he could buy some penny candy (it was cute - he searched the entire house for pennies and found about 10), right in my path was a garage sale.
I wasn't planning on stopping, but my son quickly saw one of those play kitchen sets. He has been wanting one of those so before I knew it we were checking it out. It was only $4.00 dollars, and they easily retail for over $30.00. He proclaimed that he was going to buy that with his pennies. I tried to explain that he didn't have enough but he still doesn't quite grasp that concept yet.
You guessed it. I caved in and bought it. It wasn't an impulse buy either because I actually had to walk back home and get my checkbook and come back (I rarely have cash - not even a few dollars). I even had to carry it all the way home. But my son was just so excited.
I also had to look at other things, and I resisted some things that caught my eye but I couldn't resist some old magazines for ten cents a piece. I bought all of the Women's World magazines that they had ($1.60 worth). That is the only magazine I really read and it amazes me that a weekly publication can always have so many interesting stories and recipes.
I feel like going garage-sailing tomorrow morning and I probably should go at least a few days this summer. It's time to purchase more clothes for my son because he is growing like a weed. I just have to remember the article I wrote and remember to only buy things I need.
That - and go without my son - LOL. ;)
I have been staying away from them this summer and I have conditioned my foot to not hit the brake pedal when I see a fluorescent sign on the side of the road. But while my son and I were out walking to the gas station so he could buy some penny candy (it was cute - he searched the entire house for pennies and found about 10), right in my path was a garage sale.
I wasn't planning on stopping, but my son quickly saw one of those play kitchen sets. He has been wanting one of those so before I knew it we were checking it out. It was only $4.00 dollars, and they easily retail for over $30.00. He proclaimed that he was going to buy that with his pennies. I tried to explain that he didn't have enough but he still doesn't quite grasp that concept yet.
You guessed it. I caved in and bought it. It wasn't an impulse buy either because I actually had to walk back home and get my checkbook and come back (I rarely have cash - not even a few dollars). I even had to carry it all the way home. But my son was just so excited.
I also had to look at other things, and I resisted some things that caught my eye but I couldn't resist some old magazines for ten cents a piece. I bought all of the Women's World magazines that they had ($1.60 worth). That is the only magazine I really read and it amazes me that a weekly publication can always have so many interesting stories and recipes.
I feel like going garage-sailing tomorrow morning and I probably should go at least a few days this summer. It's time to purchase more clothes for my son because he is growing like a weed. I just have to remember the article I wrote and remember to only buy things I need.
That - and go without my son - LOL. ;)
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